EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. (October 19, 2023) – In a significant move aimed at preserving a dwindling art form and ensuring students can read and write cursive, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 446 into law on October 13, making cursive handwriting instruction a mandatory requirement for California students in grades 1 through 6. This historic development was brought to fruition by Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva, a former elementary school teacher, now a prominent politician.
The legislation marks a pivotal shift in cursive education, as teachers will now be required to provide cursive instruction intermittently throughout the first to sixth grades, instead of emphasizing it in a specific grade. This move is a response to the growing concern that students were losing the ability to read and write cursive due to its omission from modern curriculums.
Assemblymember Quirk-Silva, who played a pivotal role in championing this bill, highlighted the importance of cursive writing skills. She shared with the Sacramento Bee,
“A lot of the historical documents going back two or three decades are actually in cursive. I went on 23andMe looking for some family records, and they were all written in cursive.”
Quirk-Silva’s words underscore the significance of this law, not just in an educational context but also in preserving access to historical records.
With this law now in place, cursive handwriting will be as fundamental as subjects like English, math, and social sciences in California’s educational curriculum, further solidifying its importance for future generations.
This development is in line with a broader national trend. According to a report from the National Education Association in February 2022, 21 states across the United States had already made cursive instruction a part of their public school curriculums. California’s move represents a significant step in the ongoing effort to ensure that this age-old form of handwriting is not lost to the annals of history.
As the nation grapples with the role of cursive in modern education, California’s decision to make it mandatory for its elementary school students sends a clear message: the art of cursive handwriting will not fade away without a fight, and students across the state will now be better equipped to read and write in this timeless script.
